Is it possible to lose weight without sport and a radical diet?

You have little time for sports in everyday life – or physical limitations prevent you from doing so? That doesn’t have to stand in the way of your goal of getting rid of excess pounds: Losing weight without diet and exercise may not be the optimal slimming program, but it is still possible. With a healthy lifestyle and a balanced diet, you can reduce your weight even without a radical workout. However, you cannot do without physical exercise. But it can easily be integrated into your everyday life. Here you will find tips on what else you can do to lose weight without a strict diet and intensive fitness training.

Slimming made easy: without sport, but with exercise

Studies have shown that slim people exercise an average of 150 minutes longer each day than overweight people. But exercise doesn’t mean that you have to do a sweat-inducing work-out: If you simply challenge your body a little in everyday life, you’re already doing a lot for your health – and your calorie balance. Try taking the stairs instead of the elevator or cycling to the office or university in the morning instead of driving: With such small exercise units in everyday life, you can keep fit even without special training.

Fast walking to the bus stop, vacuuming or snow shovelling get your cardiovascular system going and activate your metabolism. With a few short in-between exercises, you can reinforce this effect: a few sit-ups while the pasta water is boiling, or five squats while the computer boots up. If you have physical limitations, you can also use simpler or less intensive exercises (for example with a sitting ball): The only important thing is that you also increase the amount of exercise in everyday life. All in all, these movement sequences spread over the day lead to higher calorie consumption – and this helps you lose weight without diet and exercise. Also for your general health this brings some advantages: Exercise improves the blood circulation in numerous muscle areas and your immune system also benefits from the regular, but not too strong body load.

Physical activity also stimulates intestinal activity: For example, casual walking improves the blood circulation in the intestine, the intestinal motor function increases and the ingested food passes through the intestine in a shorter time. With a little exercise in everyday life you support your digestion – and this, in turn, has a positive effect on your sense of satiety.

Lose weight without diet and exercise? Get your intestinal bacteria into the team!

Lose weight easily without sport: Your intestines can help you. Billions of bacteria live in this fascinating organ: They support your digestion, help you to absorb nutrients and strengthen your immune system. If, however, your intestinal flora contains mainly Firmicutes bacteria, you may find it more difficult to lose weight. Firmicutes bacteria are particularly good at breaking down the molecular structure of fat and sugar: This allows them to extract more calories from your food, while at the same time increasing your craving for fat and sweets. People whose intestinal flora is mainly home to Bacteroidetes bacteria , on the other hand, usually lose weight more easily .

The good news is that you can support Bacteroidetes bacteria in a targeted way. Dietary fibres serve this bacterial species as a source of energy, so that they can multiply better in a diet rich in fibre. Dietary fibre is found mainly in less processed foods such as whole grain products, vegetables, legumes or linseed. These products also strengthen the feeling of satiety and provide you with vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients.

So try to identify successively the simple carbohydrates, saturated fatty acids and sugary foods on your diet and replace them with high fibre alternatives. So you profit from the positive effects of a intestinal diet – and you can lose weight without excessive exercise or starvation.

Personal nutrition tips from BIOMES

So if you want to lose weight without exercise, it’s good to have information about which intestinal bacteria you have outnumber. Every microbiome is different – so every person needs an individual weight loss program. With the analysis method ¹INTEST.proBIOMES can evaluate your intestinal flora in detail using a stool sample. On this basis we develop a personalized recommendations, which can contribute to bring the bacterial colonization of your intestines into balance. This makes it easier for you to lose weight.

Conclusion

A healthy, fibre-rich diet strengthens your body and stimulates the metabolism. If you also keep fit within your means, you can achieve a lot in a short time: Already by small “movement appetizers” besides it comes in the sum to energy conversions, which make themselves noticeable.

1. Cho I, Blaser M J. The human microbiome: at the interface of health and disease. Nature Reviews Genetics 2012:13, 260-270. https://www.nature.com/articles/nrg3182. ↩